It was a day to celebrate for many people — gay and straight — when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Wednesday morning that the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which denies federal benefits to same-sex couples, is unconstitutional.

In a second ruling, the court effectively re-established same-sex marriage in California.

As one gay woman said after learning about the rulings, “It legitimizes the inalienable right for all. ... It’s a very, very good day.”

The rulings do not change the fact that many people in Missouri — as well as in this area — continue to be troubled by same-sex marriage. It does not change Missouri’s constitutional prohibition of same-sex marriage, or that the Springfield City Council must still make a decision on whether to add sexual orientation and gender identity to the city’s nondiscrimination policy.

It is important to note that states and municipalities still have the right to determine how gay citizens will be treated. The Supreme Court rulings will guarantee those couples who have been married in one of the 13 states or D.C. where same-sex marriage is legal the right to receive a variety of federal benefits offered to spouses.

That ruling did not order states to do the same, but it did offer an opinion that DOMA violates the Fifth Amendment right protecting people from being “deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.” The point is we all are protected by the Constitution — equally.

Nothing in the ruling or the state laws that allow same-sex marriage implies that people cannot continue to hold different religious or moral views or that religious organizations must perform those marriages.

While we respect that many people in Missouri and Springfield hold strong views, often based on religious beliefs, in opposition to same-sex marriage — or even discrimination protection — we applaud the court’s ruling and predict that it is inevitable that equal rights for all, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity, will eventually win out.

Those rights must be allowed if we are to live up to the promise of our Declaration of Independence:

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

Opponents of gay rights have no way to show that their rights — “life, liberty or property” — are impinged by allowing gays and lesbians the happiness and benefits of married life.